On the go and no time to finish that story right now? Your News is the place for you to save content to read later from any device. Register with us and content you save will appear here so you can access them to read later.

International Women's Day is celebrated tomorrow and writing this, as a white woman from a developed nation, I know I have a lot to be grateful for.

The freedom to travel is one of the most precious things a person can hold.

But travelling solo as a woman can come with its bugbears. Unwanted attention from well-meaning — and not-so-well-meaning — male "admirers". Pitying glances when dining alone. Cultural standards opposed to my own beliefs.

Last year, visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, I was mildly outraged when the security guard wouldn't allow me inside the grounds unless I covered up. At the time I was wearing ankle-length pants, a shirt with wrist-length sleeves, and a scarf covering my hair. Apparently the millimetre of wrist on display would cause great offence, so I glowered at the guard and reluctantly put on a jumper. It was 30 degrees and while I sweltered in all my layers, various men breezed through the security checks in T-shirts and shorts, with uncovered heads. The double standards were jarring.

Luckily, that's the worst gender-biased travel experience I've had. I know many women can't say the same. But women should travel, wherever and whenever we want, without fear or apprehension. I fully intend to. As writer and activist Susan Sontag is credited as saying: "I haven't been everywhere. But it's on my list."